Artist Pedro Bell, legendary for his handprinted work that graced the covers of Funkadelic album covers throughout the ’70s, has died at the age of sixty-nine. He was known for a distinctive style which he called “psychedelic from a black perspective,” and the official announcement of Bell’s passing came from longtime Funkadelic associates George Clinton and Bootsy Collins.
“The wild and bizarre artwork gave our early audience a sense of seeing the visual side of the music and the language,” Clinton told Rolling Stone of Bell’s output. “He had a way of translating and communicating what all the weirdness was about, and that you the consumer really wanted to figure it out, because it truly was otherworldly. Every time the two were done together it would create the One. They there would be another satisfied customer! Thanks to our Captain Draw the Clone Stranger of Artistic Gratification to the Nation, Mr. Pedro Bell. The Funk got Stronger. Your service to this world can never be calculated.”
“We lost the Master Mind behind the Graphic’s & Artwork of Funkadelic,” Bootsy Collins posted on Twitter. “Mr. Pedro Bell is an American artist and illustrator best known for his elaborate cover designs and other artwork for numerous Funkadelic and George Clinton solo albums. Thxs for yr service our brother.”
We lost the Master Mind behind the Graphic's & Artwork of Funkadelic. Mr. Pedro Bell is an American artist and illustrator best known for his elaborate cover designs and other artwork for numerous Funkadelic and George Clinton solo albums. Thxs for yr service our brother.😲🙏 pic.twitter.com/PsD8TRxlRU
— Bootsy Collins (@Bootsy_Collins) August 28, 2019
Among Bell’s most famous works are the original cover for 1981 Funkadelic full-length The Electric Spanking of War Babies. Deemed inappropriate by the label at the time, the artist self-censored the final product.
“I made a mess of money on that one,” Bell told Juxtapoz in 1995. “They paid me to censor the cover,” which in this case meant moving the image to the album’s inside gatefold sleeve. He continued providing artwork for George Clinton solo albums throughout the ’80s, including Computer Games and R&B Skeletons in the Closet. “Back in those days, George knew nothing about UFOs and stuff,” Bell revealed of his early work with Clinton and the Funkadelic family. “Back then, in the early ’70s, all that space thang came from me.”
